Spring

Just after the Deerupt event was finished (see all about this here) I decided to extend my stay in Paris, just a little longer. Luckily, Divouision came along from Athens, just in time for the weekend. So that morning I said goodbye to the wonderful Adidas team and I went to check in my new hotel for the next days, the super stylish Hotel Square Louvois, located in the heart of Paris’ Rive Droite. I was greeted by the most friendly staff before being escorted to my high ceiling room (insider tip: rooms on the 2nd floor have a higher ceiling). I appreciate good design and I couldn’t help but notice all the small beautiful details in the hotel itself and of course in my room. Loved the Michael Anastasiades Flos lamps all over the interiors and the color palette used throughout the establishment. There’s also a cavernous basement with a small gym and a heated pool to relax after the long hours of walking, exploring the city. So many things to see and do, but so little time. We focused on eating, always a good place to start when traveling. Had delicious lobster rolls at Frenchie To Go, a long sushi tasting menu at Kinugawa in Matignon, a Michelin starred lunch at the Palais Royal restaurant and a super comfort dinner at Jones. Long walks by the Seine, some art watching and lots of window shopping completed the activities list! The final day before leaving we visited the Fondation Louis Vuitton in the snowy Bois de Boulogne. Check out some of the photos I took during my stay!

March has been fantastic so far and a major reason for this has been my experience at the global launch of Deerupt, a newly designed sneaker by Adidas Originals, in Paris. When I was invited by Adidas Greece to participate in this trip I was so thrilled, firstly because I know Adidas’ events are always perfect and secondly because, well, Paris..! Once we arrived all accommodation and transfer had been perfectly arranged by the Adidas team, the weather was perfect and so after checking in at the hip 1K hotel in Le Marais, I just wanted to go out and enjoy this cool city that I hadn’t visited for almost 10 years. The most amazing part of that day though, was the exclusive private dinner in a secret location, somewhere under the Louvre, for the launch of the brand new Derrupt. The next day it was all about networking with the coolest creative crowd and partying hard with sets from Justice, The Blaze and Brodinski. You can read my interview in Lifo here for more juicy details. In the meantime check out some pics from the event and from my walks in Paris with Evangelia!

Τhis will be a rather different post than my usual, more travel oriented ones. This post is about my relationship with the sun and the vital importance of light on my everyday life. After what it felt like a long winter, with the shorter days, colder temperature, rainy weather and long dark nights being the normal, all I wanted to do was to take refuge in my warm home and prepare my self for the coming of spring. This is the drive behind this post; the transition from winter to spring. A major turning point from a time of nesting and preparation, to actually becoming more extrovert and working towards our goals. In nature, we can sense this transition even more intensely. We are taken over by its blossom, swept away by the awakening of plants and animals…The days become warmer, the light is much stronger. That’s when I get this dominant feeling of wanderlust again and I just want to be outdoors, soaking in the warm rays of sun like a sponge. Being a photographer, my appreciation for natural light goes even deeper, a never ending quest for capturing that perfect moment of illumination. Greece, this special place in the world, offers me abundance of light. The sun always shines brighter here. The Sun is a Greek God: idolised, worshipped, omnipresent and precarious. ‘He’ feeds my inspiration, but harms my skin. I should never forget ‘His’ power, thus, lesson for the months ahead: protect my ‘surface’ to nourish my ‘inside’.

In the end of April I was invited by Nissan in the unique Costa Navarino for the launch presentation of the new Micra. I was actually given the car to drive to beautiful Messinia. The car is totally redesigned, it’s bigger, lower and wider than its predecessor and with a much more premium feel to it. But it’s most valuable characteristic is the overall edgy design of the car, definitely eye candy and extremely photogenic. Nissan had everything perfectly arranged in Costa Navarino, apart from the perfect sea view rooms and excellent dinner, we even got to play golf (or tried to play, as I totally sucked at it). The next morning I got up early and went to the famous Voidokilia beach and took some photos of the car. But I wanted some more, so another trip was arranged, this time with an all star crew, @spathumpa, @dimitrism_ & @jim_ble coming along for a day trip in Chalkida. The rainy weather didn’t stop us from having a blast with this fun car and creating some really nice images. Check out all the photos below, both from Messinia & Chalkida.

Last week I was invited by Grey Goose to their 17th century chateau, located at a tiny village named Juillac-le-Coq, a 20 minute drive from Cognac, right in the heart of the French wine land. The amazing chateau can be visited on an invitation only basis. Once arrived we were greeted by our amazing hostsess Nadia Melot, who literally manages the entire home to the finest detail. From there on we had excellent food and well, lots of the world’s best vodka! The visit included an induction to the history of the brand by the man himself, Francois Thibault, a mixology lesson and a fun bread-making class led by Nadia. Our rooms were very cozy, just like the rest of the communal spaces like Le Salon and the breakfast area in the kitchen. Below are some photos and a short video just to get a glimpse of what these two amazing days in Le Logis were like!

At the beginning of May, Alitalia introduced a brand new daily, year round service, connecting Athens to Tel Aviv. For this reason and to help spread out the good news, I was invited on this day trip to this beautiful city which included a guided tour in the basic parts of the town, a visit to the Museum of the Jewish people and of course a fishetarian lunch by the beautiful sandy beach. Honestly, it was quite a tight schedule that didn’t really allow me to go out and explore and take enough photos, but it definitely made me want to visit this fast developing city again. It will be happening soon! Check some of the photos I took on this day trip arranged by Alitalia.

Winter felt too long this year and I couldn’t be any happier to see it go. But this transition from the cold, dark winter to the fresh and bright spring is something you can really enjoy and appreciate only when you are away from the city, in the nature. So when my friend Ilaria asked me to join her for a short business trip to Mykonos I was thrilled. As you already know, if you follow my journeys, Mykonos is my most visited island, I have been many times and at different seasons, from winter to summer. This time though it was unique. The island was so green and lush that it felt like being somewhere else. The locals said it’s because of the heavy rainfalls during the winter. It was quite windy during my stay, so unfortunately no swimming, but perfect for long walks on the beaches and enjoying this beautiful season where one should, the outdoors!

A few months ago I visited Nefeles Mainalon Resort to shoot an editorial for Celestino. We planned ahead with the rest of the team and we also collected some dresses from the Greek fashion designers MiRo. Here are some of the shots I chose from that particular shoot with our model Mariana. It was a very cold day on the mountain but we enjoyed every minute of it! Styled by Yiorgos Mesimeris muah Konstantinos Sakkas.

My childhood friend Gina has been living in Bologna for many years now and although she always told me to visit I never made it. Until a few weeks ago that is, where I finally made a long weekend trip to this beautiful Italian city. And to be honest, three days are more than enough to see most of it and long enough to survive the fantastic but fatty food that comes with it. My favorite place for lunch was Tamburini and for dinner it was the excellent trattoria della Gigina! I returned to Athens feeling fatter than ever but I would definitely do it again soon. Here are some photos from my trip!

Last weekend I was lucky enough to be invited for a long weekend at Oniropetra Boutique Hotel in Karpenisi, Evrytania. This region has been on my list for a while now but I never had the chance to arrange it properly. Luckily, Hotel Brain made it all very simple. The hotel is really great and I would definitely recommend it but what’s even better is their excellent breakfast. Below you will find some photos from the property and many photos from the fantastic region of Everytania. I need to go back soon and explore the beautiful nature and the surrounding, picturesque villages.